Meistriliiga
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Meistriliiga is the top division of the Estonian Football Association. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts around March and ends in late November. The championships top division consists of ten clubs, all teams play each other four times. After each season the bottom team is relegated, with the winner of Esiliiga being promoted (unless it is a reserve team for a Meistriliiga team, in which case the next team receives automatic promotion) and the 2nd last team from Meistriliiga and the 2nd team from Esiliiga playing a two-legged playoff to get into/stay in the Meistriliiga. The team that finishes as champions of the Meistriliiga qualifies for the 1st Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League, the 2nd team will play in the 1st Qualifying Round of the UEFA Cup along with the winner of the Estonian Cup. Depending on the cup winner, a fourth team will enter the 1st round of the Inter-Toto Cup.
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[edit] Meistriliiga 2007
| Team |
|---|
| 1. FC Levadia |
| 2. FC Kuressaare |
| 3. Tallinna Kalev |
| 4. FC Flora |
| 5. Narva JK Trans |
| 6. FC TVMK |
| 7. Viljandi Tulevik |
| 8. JK Maag Tammeka |
| 9. FC Ajax Lasnamäe |
| 10. Pärnu Vaprus |
[edit] Meistriliiga 2006 - the year of Levadia
FC Levadia won the latest championship that ended in November 2006. They will enter the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League 1st Qualifying Round. Narva Trans finished in their best ever silver-medal position, while FC Flora also gained a place compared to last season on 2005 champions FC TVMK's disappointing year. The latter will enter the Inter-Toto Cup and the other two above mentioned teams enter the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds in the summer of 2007.
The bottom of the table provided some intrigue as well. The two Tartu teams ended mid-table, with Tammeka's youthful-looking squad impressing under experienced coach and ex-international Sergei Ratnikov, in his first year as the head coach. Pärnu Vaprus was perhaps the surprise package of the season finishing seventh on their debut year in the Meistriliiga and bringing Pärnu back on to the Estonian football map. Mainly Russian-speaking Tallinn team, Ajax Lasnamäe, proved a point by staying up against all predictions. Viljandi Tulevik had a dreadful year and had to go into the play-offs against Esiliiga's Tallinna Kalev and lost, which should've meant their relegation a step down. But after the merging of the Tartu clubs, JK Maag and Tammeka, they will still be in the Meistriliiga in 2007. The team with the youngest average aged squad in the league, Warrior Valga, were relegated without a meaningful fight.
The leagues top scorers were two Narva Trans strikers Maksim Gruznov (with 31 goals) and Dmitri Lipartov (27 goals). FC Flora's Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko scored 25, FC Levadia's Indrek Zelinski 21 goals.
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.  FC Levadia |
94 | 36 | 30 | 4 | 2 |
2.  Narva Trans |
83 | 36 | 25 | 8 | 3 |
3.  FC Flora |
82 | 36 | 26 | 4 | 6 |
4.  FC TVMK |
72 | 36 | 22 | 6 | 8 |
5.  JK Maag |
48 | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 |
6.  Tammeka |
43 | 36 | 12 | 7 | 17 |
7.  Pärnu Vaprus |
34 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 22 |
8.  Ajax Lasnamäe |
25 | 36 | 6 | 7 | 23 |
9.  Viljandi Tulevik |
20 | 36 | 5 | 5 | 26 |
10.  Warrior Valga |
11 | 36 | 3 | 2 | 31 |
Esiliiga was won by FC Levadia reserves, which shows their domination of Estonian club football in 2006. They cannot be promoted though, which means FC Kuressaare received automatic promotion, Tallinna Kalev also joins the top-tier after winning the play-offs.
[edit] Meistriliiga 2005 - the year of TVMK
FC TVMK's first title-winning campaign came in some style with strikers Tarmo Neemelo and Ingemar Teever scoring most of the goals and veteran midfielder Andrei Borissov leading the team from midfield. Narva Trans finished in bronze-medal position after years of being fourth in the final table, while FC Flora have been busy rebuilding their squad and therefore not too upset by a disappointing fourth position finish. FC Kuressaare went out of the league via play-offs and Dünamo's defensive displays were awful and the team never seemed to have any kind of chance in staying up.
Tarmo Neemelo in the end scored 41 goals for the champions, and earned a move to top Swedish club Helsingborgs IF, Maksim Gruznov of Narva Trans scored 26 goals, Slava Zahovaiko of FC Flora and Ingemar Teever for the champions scored 19 goals each. The latter secured a free transfer to Swedish outfit Östers IF.
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. FC TVMK | 95 | 36 | 30 | 5 | 1 |
| 2. FC Levadia | 89 | 36 | 28 | 5 | 3 |
| 3. Narva Trans | 75 | 36 | 23 | 6 | 7 |
| 4. FC Flora | 69 | 36 | 21 | 6 | 9 |
| 5. Viljandi Tulevik | 47 | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 |
| 6. Merkuur | 40 | 36 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| 7. Tammeka | 29 | 36 | 8 | 5 | 23 |
| 8. FC Valga | 28 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 24 |
| 9. FC Kuressaare | 27 | 36 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| 10. Dünamo | 12 | 36 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
In 2006, Pärnu Vaprus would join the elite of Estonian club football along with Ajax Lasnamäe.
[edit] League Winners
| Season | Participants | Champion | Pts | Runner Up | Pts |
| 1992 | 14 | FC Norma Tallinn | n/a | EP Jõhvi | n/a |
| 1992-93 | 12 | FC Norma Tallinn | 42 | FC Flora Tallinn | 34 |
| 1993-94 | 11 | FC Flora Tallinn | 5 | FC Norma Tallinn | 2 |
| 1994-95 | 8 | FC Flora Tallinn | 41 | FC Lantana Tallinn | 40 |
| 1995-96 | 8 | FC Lantana Tallinn | 37 | FC Flora Tallinn | 31 |
| 1996-97 | 8 | FC Lantana Tallinn | 41 | FC Flora Tallinn | 38 |
| 1997-98 | 8 | FC Flora Tallinn | 37 | Sadam Tallinn | 31 |
| 1998 | 8 | FC Flora Tallinn | 35 | Sadam Tallinn | 34 |
| 1999 | 8 | FC Levadia Tallinn | 73 | JK Viljandi Tulevik | 53 |
| 2000 | 8 | FC Levadia Tallinn | 74 | FC Flora Tallinn | 55 |
| 2001 | 8 | FC Flora Tallinn | 68 | FC TVMK Tallinn | 56 |
| 2002 | 8 | FC Flora Tallinn | 64 | Levadia Maardu | 62 |
| 2003 | 8 | FC Flora Tallinn | 76 | FC TVMK Tallinn | 65 |
| 2004 | 8 | FC Levadia Tallinn | 69 | FC TVMK Tallinn | 63 |
| 2005 | 10 | FC TVMK Tallinn | 95 | FC Levadia Tallinn | 89 |
| 2006 | 10 | FC Levadia Tallinn | 94 | JK Trans Narva | 83 |
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